La Familia Michoacana's Narco Drones Have Arrived In El Porvenir

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

"The school was hit by a missile, all the children and teachers were terrified, hiding under the benches," said a local resident, who asked the authorities to heed her call for help.

“A bomb fell here, I have the evidence,” says a resident of El Porvenir, in Técpan de Galeana, Guerrero, who prefers to remain anonymous because “they already have me located,” but does not refuse to tell MILENIO what happened there. 

On March 16, an explosive can fell on the community's rural school; Fortunately, the explosion occurred in the patio and there were no fatalities.

“An explosive landed at the bottom and exploded; All the children and teachers were terrified, hiding under the benches, crying...,” recalls the mother of three children.

However, the message was clear: no one is safe from the offensive of La Familia Michoacana and that day other bombs fell on houses and ranches.

Social networks became the only means to ask for help, but so far it has not arrived; “The teachers left and we don't know if they will return, because there is fear in everyone,” warned a complaint, still in force.

The opinion of the people is that the attack was perpetrated by La Familia Michoacana, led by José Alfredo Olascoaga Hurtado, El Fresa, along with his brother Johnny, El Pez.

Specifically, Ismael Serrano, El Mayel, in Ajuchitlán del Progreso, and Servando Bautista, in Petatlán, are accused of being the operators of the criminal organization in the area.

“El Parotal and El Camarón have up to 16 missiles every day, which is why we ask for the support of all the authorities…” confesses the woman, who until three months ago didn’t have to protect themselves from the volley of these projectiles.

For a year MILENIO has documented how daily life in this region has been degraded by the presence of La Familia Michoacana, first with the expulsion of doctors and teachers and then with self-exile.

Communities such as Corrales, El Mameycito, El Mameyal, El Limón, El Anono, El Chiverío and El Parotal today are impassable without a permit from the mafia or without an escort; the most distant rancherías disappeared.

This forces the population to use an old road that represents journeys of up to five hours by ATV.

 If an urgent service is required, such as a medical complication, the transfer can cost up to 2 thousand pesos to get to the nearest hospital.

The shrapnel, drones and bombs are exactly the same model as those dropped in the rest of the mountain range: a body made of tin, a detonator, its charge and its fins.

There are no official numbers on attacks with explosive devices, but in just one year MILENIO has reported at least nine sightings attributed to La Familia Michoacana in towns such as El Caracol, Acatlán, Plan Verde or Buenavista de los Hurtado.

Just in November an attack was recorded in the Petatlán region and last March an expansion was confirmed towards El Porvenir and El Durazno, high in the mountains.

However, the community's demands remain the same, whether on the coast or high in the mountains.

“What is essential for the growth, for the development of populations, is security; All the men and women who are here know how to work, but if there is no security, there is no growth or development,” said Ignacio Chávez, commissioner of Bienes Ejidales of El Durazno, in Coyuca de Catalán.

While from the town of El Porvenir the message is the same: “let them come and give us a stable base of government, don't leave because they come for five days and leave again.

“We want security, we ask the authorities in the most attentive way, because there are many of us who are the future of Mexico.”

Técpan de Galeana, Guerrero

Milenio